Aluminum Corp. of China Deputy General Manager Lu Youqing said Tuesday the company is in "intense" talks with Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) about a potential deal and a seat on Rio's board, signaling the Chinese mining giant wants a bigger presence in the Anglo-Australian firm.

Lu said both sides are discussing the size of the deal and the financing involved, but declined to disclose details, or confirm whether Aluminum Corp., known as Chinalco, is seeking a 15%-20% stake in Rio Tinto.

Another Chinalco official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said earlier Tuesday Chinalco is in talks with Rio Tinto on a possible asset purchase. The official told Dow Jones Newswires "money shouldn't be a problem" for Chinalco in closing the deal.

Rio Tinto, which is looking for help to pay down some of its US$38.9 billion debt, said earlier this month it is talking with the Chinese firm on a possible sale of minority stakes in some of its mining operations and an investment in convertible instruments.

Chinalco, China's biggest aluminum producer by output, became Rio Tinto's biggest shareholder last year after it teamed up with Alcoa Inc. (AA) to pay US$14.1 billion for a 9% stake in the Rio Tinto group, which translates into a 12% stake in the listed company.

Chinalco's investment represented the biggest overseas investment by a Chinese firm on record. The Australian newspaper reported last week that the deal under discussion could be worth an estimated US$20 billion.

Chinalco has said it wouldn't seek to appoint a director to Rio Tinto PLC if it holds less than 15% of the company.

"The 12% (of Rio Tinto PLC) that Chinalco currently owns has no voting right (on the board)," said Wang Lixin, of Beijing metals consultancy Umetal.

"A deal could give Chinalco those voting rights. This is very important to Chinalco," she said.

State-controlled China Development Bank helped Chinalco on its first Rio Tinto investment last year. However, analysts are concerned that banks would be unwilling to lend funds for acquisition deals due to the financial crisis.

The Chinalco official who declined to be named also said Chinalco will appoint Xiong Weiping as chairman to replace Xiao Yaqing.

Xiao, who joined Chinalco in March 2002, will be promoted to a "more senior position" outside the company, the official said, which means Xiao would also leave his post as president of Chinalco's listed unit, Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH), or Chalco.

Xiong, 52 years old, was a vice president of Chinalco from 2000 and left to join China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Ltd. in 2006, where he is now a vice chairman and general manager.

An official from the general manager's office of China Travel International said the company hasn't received any notice about Xiong leaving.

"Xiong is still working here now," said the official, who declined to be named. She didn't elaborate.

Chalco's shares were suspended from trading in Hong Kong and Shanghai Tuesday.

In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Chalco said its H shares were suspended pending the release of a company clarification on media reports about management changes.

-By Chuin-Wei Yap and Juan Chen; Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 6588 5848; juan.chen@dowjones.com

(Kersten Zhang of The Wall Street Journal contributed to this story.)